PA & Live Sound feature articles

In this chapter we'll discuss a not-so-widely spread category of transducers based on very amazing principles. They can make some people dream because they are freed from the mechanical stages of transduction – although it comes at a cost.

Another family of transducers, often put down by audiophiles, is that making use of the piezoelectric phenomenon. Sturdy and not particularly expensive, these transducers have found a place in many speakers with more or less success.

After our previous discussion of electrodynamic speakers, we'll now move on to describing different categories of speaker transducers, starting with the equivalent of the condenser mic in the speakers world.

Many factors can negatively impact your band’s sound, from lack of rehearsal to bad acoustics to feedback to malfunctioning gear to burnt-out sound engineers. But perhaps the most consistent impediment to sounding good is excessive stage volume. Yes, we all like to let it rip onstage, but by allowing our levels to get out of control, we can ruin i…

In the last article of this series dedicated to electrodynamic speakers we'll talk about some unique and interesting designs. The biggest difference with these two examples compared to previous speaker-types described, is that the diaphragms don't have a uniform motion, and the membranes actually fold.

In the previous article we discussed compression drivers and acoustic horns. Today we'll focus on a technology whose patent was issued in the 1920s and widely used for microphones. However, its usability for loudspeaker design remained questionable up until the 1950s, when some improvements allowed ribbon speakers to be successfully marketed.

To finish with this overview of the most widely used type of speaker, we'll discuss electrodynamic cone models. To improve the performance in the high frequencies, the cone is usually replaced with a dome, which is in turn placed in what's called a "compression driver," and attached to an acoustic horn to improve the coupling with the air.

We started this series by describing the cone diaphragm of an electrodynamic speaker. It obviously plays an important role in the final quality of a speaker, as the radiating element, but it's far from being the only spot where signal can be degraded. Today I'll address the importance of the suspensions and magnets.